Page 34

34

PENELOPE

“You’ve really never done this before?” A shiver of electricity sails through my body as he reaches out to touch my hand to steady me.

“No, I’ve never done this before. But how hard can it be?” The air of arrogance is so strong I can almost smell it, but I won’t call him out on it now. I’m choosing to wait until he’s made an absolute ass of himself first.

“Okay. Well this is your rodeo, boss. Show me what you got.”

He stands tall in his rented ice skates, the blades making him well over a foot taller than me in mine, and gingerly walks to the opening to the rink. My heart almost burst when I realised where he was taking me. Ice skating at Rockefeller Center, just like in the movies I watched as a kid.

The Christmas tree is all lit up in gold twinkling lights that look like someone took a handful of stars from the sky and placed them on the branches. There’s snow on the ground, a chill in the air, and the happy squeals of people enjoying themselves. It’s exactly how I pictured it. Except I’m standing here with the most handsome man I’ve ever seen who less than an hour ago claimed me as his. It doesn’t feel real, and I’m still waiting for the bubble to burst, but right now I’m soaking in as much as I can.

“Are you coming or what?” His voice filters through my thoughts and I nod and smile as I walk toward him, considerably steadier on my blades than he was on his. Years of playing hockey with the Bradys and being covered in bruises is finally paying off.

“Let’s go, Mr. McSnooty.”

Grabbing his hand before he can protest, I glide confidently onto the ice and turn to face him. The look of panic on his face is priceless, as is the quick kicks of his legs before he tumbles to the ice, landing on his butt and bringing me down on top of him.

“No fair. You can’t drag someone down with you. First rule of skating… you have to fall on your own.”

“Nope. I don’t agree with that rule. Elias Rules of Business apply here. It’s everyone for themselves, and play dirty if you need to. If I’m going down, I’m bringing you with me.”

He pops a kiss on my nose, and even though I’m outraged at his total lack of consideration for my rules, I still smile. I untangle myself from him, and once I’m stable and on my feet, I help him back to his.

“How are you so good at this?”

Taking both his hands in mine, I slowly guide him further onto the ice. He doesn’t move his feet, just lets me pull him along.

“I didn’t just play baseball with the Bradys. Any sport those boys played, I did too. Hockey was a favourite of mine and Jamesons. The skating element was easy for us. Jenson and Jaxson were always too worried about injuring their legs, so we didn’t play all that much, but we had a lot of fun when we did.”

Skating backward, I offer a small smile and check over my shoulder to make sure we aren’t in danger of knocking into anyone else.

“I should know not to underestimate you by now, but I still find myself doing it.” His smile is genuine, the affection in his eyes honest, but the worrisome side of my brain still activates.

It won’t last. He looks at everyone like that. Once he’s owned you in the bedroom, he’ll get bored and move on. You don’t really believe you can hold onto him forever, do you? He’s used to models and socialites, not dowdy school teachers with whore moms.

I brush the thoughts aside and take a deep breath, trying to stay in the here and now and not focus on what could or might happen. All I know is I’m falling for this man quicker than I anticipated, and I’m terrified I won’t make it out of this intact.

“I’ve never seen a skating rink in Syracuse. Where did you guys used to play hockey?”

I quickly snap my attention back to him and ignore the slight frown on his face.

“They tore it down years ago. It used to be where Wegmans is. Jameson and I were sad to see it go, but the other two didn’t care. By then they were so ingrained into their football—both kinds—that we stopped playing most other sports. We always had time for basketball, though. We played the Brady version of ‘Horse’ a lot. And Pops and my dad would help me hone my pitching whenever I wanted, so it was all good. I haven’t skated for so long now, but apparently it’s like riding a bike. You don’t forget.”

A nervous grin flits onto my face as I realise I’ve been rambling on, but he just smiles back reassuringly.

“I forgot to ask you, there's a New Year's eve gala that I have to attend. It’s shitty timing with football and the playoffs, but I have to show my face. Will you make it more bearable and come with me?” The vulnerability in his voice makes me smile as I nod. “Excellent. I’m buying your gown, and that’s not up for debate.”

He pops a kiss on my nose and I laugh indulgently at him. I don’t want to argue with him on this, and I can always grab a cheap dress. The fact that he wants me on his arm at one of his fancy gala’s makes my heart sing, and I can’t wipe the smile from my face.

“So, skating at Rockefeller rink. Does it live up to your expectations?”

Slowly I guide us over to the rail so he can hold on to something other than my hands, and look up at the huge Christmas tree glittering at me. A sudden gush of emotion overwhelms me and I have to fight back the tears from falling down my cheeks.

“Hey, what’s wrong? I’m sorry, Little One. I wouldn’t have brought you here if I thought it would upset you. That wasn’t my plan at all. I wanted to give you a magical New York experience.”

I turn my watery eyes to meet his, my mouth agape in shock. “You planned this for me? This wasn’t some sort of spur of the moment type of situation? You remembered our conversation?”

“Of course I did. I remember most of the things you say, or do. You’re a pain in the arse to be fair.” He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear as I laugh softly at his words.

“But why? Why did you ignore me for so many years, only to start acting like this? Fancy galas, showing me you’re into me, bringing me here, I don’t get it.”

His hand cups the side of my neck, his thumb gently caressing my cheek. “I ignored you because you were dangerous to me. You threatened everything I thought I stood for. You made me want things I had no right wanting, and it annoyed me. I didn’t want a conventional relationship and I didn’t want to open myself up to anyone. But even when I was ignoring you, I was still thinking of you. You’ve been in my mind for a long time, Penelope.”

Sighing, I lean into his palm. “And what about now? What do you want now?”

Gripping my waist, he pulls me against his chest. “Besides taking you home and fucking you into the mattress?” His eyes turn black with desire as I bite down on my bottom lip and nod. “You, Little One. I just want you.”

I crash our lips together, moaning loudly as his tongue caresses my own. His hand gripping my waist gets tighter as his other hand leaves my neck and snakes its way down my body to squeeze my ass. Pushing against him, I can feel his erection digging into my stomach, and I gently nip at his lip to show him how much I want him.

I feel it before it happens. His centre of gravity shifts, and before I can stop it, we’re on the ice, Ben’s ass taking the brunt of our fall.

An older woman skates past us, snickering loudly. “Go get a room and get off the ice before you melt it. Horny assholes.”

Ben’s face is set in stone, angry and frustrated, but I just laugh loudly and salute the woman as she skates backward away from us.

“I think that’s pretty solid advice, don’t you?”

I offer my hand to him, he takes it with a grimace, and once we have our shoes back on and Ben is able to stand without assistance, he scoops me over his shoulder, my ass on display in my jeans, and strolls through New York city like this is the normal way to walk the streets with someone. His arrogance is off the charts and I have to admit, it’s sexy as hell.